Quloos QA390 { Unboxing & first impressions }

Описание: Clark's Most Insanely Overbuilt TOTL Portable (~ISH?) AIO DAP Can Do It All!

This impressive piece of Chonk comes from the OCD mind of "Clark" ~ AKA Bian Jiang ~ Obsessive former Chief engineer at Hifiman who was the primary designer of the groundbreaking HM-801 & 602 DAP projects and his uncompromising approach working on the HM-602 while Hifiman management needed a more cost-effective and mass-marketable product caused the rift that lead him to leave to found Quloos (QLS), https://www.qlshifi.com/en/index.htm a company that designs truly high-fidelity audio equipment.

The Quloos QA390 project is the spiritual and philosophical successor to the HM-801, but taken to an even greater extreme of all-in-one capability and purist design, while the Limited Edition seeks out everything possible from the Tolerances and, in fact WAS Limited by the fact that the components available to make any more simply did not exist.

The goal of the QA390 was audacious: create a single, portable device that could replace a stack of expensive separates (transport, DAC, preamp, headphone amp) without sacrificing sound quality. Most all-in-ones make significant compromises.
Clark's engineering purity ensured the QA390 did not. It became a "desktop-level system in a portable box." He is noted for his pursuit of sound quality, often using non-mass production techniques and extensive testing to create.
The fact that this resulted in an All-In-One head-fi chain with the juice to uncompromisingly power our beloved (and ludicrously power-hungry) Modhouse Tungstens to their full potential vaulting them over bar into an SSS-Rank audiophile experience for 10-12 hours with all of the ensuing soundstage and sub-bass transient speed required is no accident - as Clark once famously stated, "The power supply is the source of sound."
He believes as we do that that clean, stable, and (over)abundant power is the most critical factor in audio reproduction performance.


Features:
● No Op-amps: Unlike most solid-state designs that use operational amplifiers (op-amps) for amplification, the QA390 uses a discrete, fully balanced amplifier circuit that Clark designed from the ground up. Discrete circuits are often more complex and expensive but are capable of superior sound.

● Minimalist Signal Path: He removes anything that isn't absolutely necessary for the highest fidelity. For example, the QA390 has no digital inputs like USB Audio by design in its standard mode because Clark believed the internal processing and power supply were not optimized for it. (The LE version later added a high-quality USB Audio implementation).

● The QA390 uses a massive, custom-wound toroidal transformer and a sophisticated regulation system with multiple independent power rails for the digital and analog sections. This prevents digital noise from contaminating the delicate analog output stage. This focus on power is a key reason why the QA390, despite being battery-operated for ultimate purity, sounds so powerful and authoritative.

● Custom DAC Chips: He worked with AKM to source special, premium-grade versions of the AK4497 DAC chips that had tighter tolerances and superior performance.

● Custom Capacitors: The LE uses specially formulated "Black Gate" style capacitors, which are legendary in the audiophile world for their sonic qualities.

● Hand-Matched Components: Every unit's critical components are hand-matched and measured to ensure they perform to his exact specifications.


Big HUGE thanks to Tim from Kisune Hifi - https://kitsunehifi.com/ - without whom this video (and hopefully many more to follow using the Quloos as a source) would not have been possible!

Music played in this video:

Club des Belugas & Maya Fadeeva, Don't Look Back
   • Don't Look Back  

Norah Jones & Marian McPartland, September in the Rain
   • NORAH JONES & MARIAN McPARTLAND - «Septemb...  

Patricia Barber, Black Magic Woman (live)
   • Patricia Barber - Black Magic Woman  

Lionel Loueke, HH
   • Lionel Loueke – HH (2020 - Album)  

Lords of the Underground, Chief Rocka
   • Chief Rocka  

Hans Zimmer - The Dark Knight
   • The Dark Knight Main Theme - Hans Zimmer  

Hans Zimmer, The Dune Sketchbook
   • Dune Sketchbook Soundtrack | Full Album - ...  

Yoshi Horikawa, Bubbles
   • Bubbles  

Stray cats - Jazz Nights
   • Stray Cats' Jazz Night  

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Located in Serbia, we are a group of musicians and entertainment professionals attracted to quality and usefulness. Contact us at [email protected] for any query, or if you're a musician and want to come hang out!

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DISCLAIMER - We were not paid by Quloos to make this video, all our purchases are made through research and testing only. We buy what we think is the best option and balance between what we are seeking and what we can afford. And when we can, we just buy stuff for fun!